District hires eConsult for disparity study as community questions contractor diversity on John Harris roof bid

The Harrisburg City School District on Jan. 14 introduced a disparity study to review contractor utilization and announced a forthcoming roof restoration project at John Harris High School that prompted community questions about minority subcontractor participation.

Econsult Solutions (ESI) representatives Cassandra Brown and Li Wang presented the scope of a disparity study the firm will carry out for the district. Brown said the study will compare utilization (share of district spending to minority- and women-owned firms) against availability (the local pool of such firms) and will probe structural barriers such as capital access or business formation that might limit vendor participation.

“By doing the analysis and related explorations, our clients have an understanding of what the climate is for diverse spend, how they're doing in diverse spend, and how they can do better,” Cassandra Brown said.

The presentation followed questions from the public and board members about a pending roofing project at John Harris High School. Randy Klein presented a proposed roof restoration and through-wall flashing replacement for the 2005 addition at John Harris; operations later recommended a contract with Weatherproofing Technologies for $2,449,413 to begin after the 2025 school year. The scope includes a fully reinforced 20-year restorative white coating, through-wall flashing replacement and an add alternate to seal and waterproof masonry joints above the new flashings. Funding was listed as capital reserve and the work includes a 20-year Tremco warranty with preventive maintenance at years 2, 5, 10, and 15.

During public comment Pastor Earl Harris asked the roofer how many African American or Latino subcontractors would work on the project and urged more local hiring. "I’m just asking you not to just rely and wait till a study comes in. You could do this now," Pastor Harris said. Operations staff acknowledged the question and said the district expects the disparity study to inform future procurement practices.

Why it matters: board members and administrators said a formal disparity study will provide evidence-based recommendations for how the district can increase diverse participation in contracting. Trustee Miss Anderson and operations staff discussed whether cooperative purchasing (KPN) or direct bidding best advances local subcontractor participation.

What’s next: Econsult will proceed with data collection and community outreach; the administration said it expects to receive preliminary results within months. The proposed Weatherproofing Technologies contract requires legal review and will be considered at the Jan. 28 meeting. Reedy (operations) told the board the project arrived under a cooperative purchasing arrangement (KPN) and noted that cooperative bids often bring larger firms with greater buying power; that reality was part of the community’s concern.

Ending: District leaders said the disparity study will be used to shape future procurement policy and that they will return with findings and potential policy recommendations to increase local and minority subcontractor participation in capital work.